Urumchi,Wade–Giles romanization ÜrümqiChinese (Pinyin) Wulumuqi, (Wade-Giles romanization) Wu-lu-mu-ch’i, Pinyin Ürümqi, city in the Uighur Uighur Ürümchi, also spelled Urumqi or Urumchicity and capital of the Uygur Autonomous Region of SinkiangXinjiang, northwestern China. Urumchi (Mongolian: The city (whose name in Uighur means “Fine Pasture”) is the capital of the autonomous region. Situated situated in a fertile belt of oases along the northern face slope of the T’ien Shan eastern Tien (mountains), the city Tian) Shan range. Ürümqi commands the northern end of a gap leading from the Tarim Basin into the Junggar (DzungarianBasin.It ) Basin. Pop. (2002 est.) city, 1,401,990; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 2,151,000.

History

The area first came under full Chinese control in the 7th and 8th centuries, when the Chinese established the protectorate general of

Pei-t’ing

Beiting some 80 miles (130 km) to the east. A

hsien (

county

) named Lun-t’ai was then founded at Urumchi

named Luntai had earlier been founded at Ürümqi in 640, which became an important centre for caravans traveling into the

I-li

Ili River valley from the main route across Turkistan. After the withdrawal of the

T’ang

Tang dynasty (618–907) from the area in the 750s,

Urumchi

Ürümqi came under the control of the Uighurs. It again came under Chinese rule during the campaigns of the

Ch’ing

Qing dynasty against the Dzungars in the 18th century. In 1760 military colonies were established in the surrounding oases, and in 1763 a Chinese city called

Ti-hua

Dihua was founded there.

The city became an important Manchu garrison for northwestern China. When the Muslim Rebellion broke out in

Sinkiang

Xinjiang in the 1860s,

Urumchi

Ürümqi was taken by the rebels in 1864 but was eventually recaptured in 1876 by

Ch’ing

Qing forces under

Tso Tsung-t’ang

Zuo Zongtang. When the province of

Sinkiang

Xinjiang was set up in 1884,

Urumchi

Ürümqi (Dihua) became its capital. It grew rapidly into the greatest city and centre of trade in Central Asia. Its commercial importance was matched

,

in the last days of the

empire,

Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12) by its growing strategic and international significance

,

as the British and Russians each attempted to establish influence in

Sinkiang

Xinjiang.

The contemporary city

Since 1949

Urumchi

Ürümqi has been developed not only as the regional capital and cultural centre of

Sinkiang

Xinjiang but also as a major industrial base.

A railway links Urumchi to the Chinese rail network and was completed in the early 1960s. A highway was built following the same route, and other highways have been built across the Dzungarian and Tarim basins, greatly improving Urumchi’s communications. Efforts have been

In addition, efforts have been made to extend the irrigated farmlands in the vicinity

,

(along the foot of the

T’ien

Tien Shan

,

) and to improve the region’s agricultural productivity by mechanization.

Urumchi’s new prosperity, however, comes

Ürümqi’s prosperity has come largely from its mineral resources. In 1955 a large petroleum field was discovered at

K’o-la-ma-i (Karamai)

Karamay, to the north in the

Dzungarian

Junggar Basin; it was brought into production in 1958–59 and has since become one of China’s major domestic sources of oil. Extensive coal deposits were found along the foot of the

T’ien

Tien Shan, and there are major mining centres near

Urumchi

Ürümqi and at

Liu-tao-wan

Liudaowan. A large thermal-power station, ironworks and steelworks, an engineering

industry

sector (producing agricultural machinery), a cement works, chemical and fertilizer plants, an oil refinery, and cotton-textile mills have been built.

Urumchi

Southeast of Ürümqi, in Chaiwopu, is a large windmill power station, the first of its kind in China.

A railway extending northwestward from Lanzhou (Gansu province) that links Ürümqi to the Chinese rail network was completed in the early 1960s. A highway was built following the same route, and other highways have been built across the Junggar and Tarim basins, greatly improving Ürümqi’s communications. The rail line has been extended northwestward from Ürümqi to the Dzungarian (Junggar) Gate (Chinese: Alataw Shankou)—a pass through the Zhongghar Alataū (Alataw) Mountains into Kazakhstan. Another rail line, completed in 1999, follows the route of the ancient Silk Road along the northern edge of the Tarim Basin and gives the city convenient access to Kashgar (Kashi), in southwestern Xinjiang. The city’s international airport is just to the northwest. The great expansion of and improvements in Ürümqi’s transportation infrastructure have transformed the city into a major communications centre for northwestern China.

Ürümqi remains a Uighur city, with Uighur as its chief language; most Uighurs are Muslim. There are

Kazak

Kazakh, Dungan, and Manchu minorities. Much effort has been devoted to building a Uighur cultural base.

There are

The city has many schools and institutes of higher education, including

a university

several universities, colleges offering special courses for minorities, and institutions for studying medicine, agricultural science, and the Russian language

, medicine, and agricultural science. Pop. (1993 est.) 1,130,000

. Notable among these is Xinjiang University, founded in 1924 and reorganized in 2000 following its merger with Xinjiang Engineering Institute. Tian Lake, formed in a crater of the Bogd Mountains (the eastern extension of the Tien Shan) about 70 miles (110 km) east of Ürümqi, is a scenic spot and popular tourist destination.